In the prior art, it is known to mount one structure within another in a manner which accommodates bending of the outer structure without substantially transmitting structural loads caused by such bending to the inner structure. This may, for example, be accomplished by utilizing a spherical bearing to slidably mount one end of the inner structure to the outer structure and using a gimbal assembly to mount the other end of the inner structure to the outer structure. Thus, when the outer structure is bent, the gimbal assembly accommodates rotation of the inner structure about the center point of the gimbal assembly, while the spherical bearing accommodates both rotation and translation of the inner structure.
One example of an application for such a linkage system is the mounting of a large airborne radar antenna, such as those utilized in the AWACS and E2C surveillance aircraft. As those skilled in the art will appreciate, the radome of such an airborne radar antenna is subjected to large horizontal loads due to the heavy airflow impinging thereon during flight. Such airflow induced loads cause the radome support, i.e., its mechanical connection to the aircraft, to bend or deform transversely.
Although such bending of the radome support does not adversely affect operation of the radar system, since it only results in slight movement of the radome itself, it is desirable to prevent the transmission of structural loads, i.e., those due to wind induced transverse forces, from being transmitted from the radome support to the antenna support, which is contained within the radome support. As those skilled in the art will appreciate, any bending or deformation of the antenna support will result in highly undesirable movement of the radar antenna itself, which would, indeed, adversely affect the performance of the radar system. As such, it is essential that the transmission of structural loads from the radome support to the antenna support be minimized.
The above-described linkage systems have proven generally suitable for mounting large airborne radar antennas. However, as those skilled in the art will appreciate, such prior art gimbal assemblies are inherently volume and weight inefficient, thereby making them difficult to install and maintain. Furthermore, the inherent complexity of such gimbal systems reduces the reliability thereof.
As such, although the use of gimbal systems in the prior art to mitigate the transmission of structural loads has been generally satisfactory, it would be beneficial to provide a means for mitigating the transmission of structural loads which is substantially more volume efficient, so as to facilitate easier installation and maintenance thereof, and also so as to improve the reliability thereof. Further, it would be beneficial to provide such a means for mitigating the transmission of structural loads which is weight efficient. As will be appreciated by those skilled in the art, weight efficiency is of paramount importance in aerospace vehicles.